UNH legend Bill Bowes to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame

Friday

Jan 8, 2016 at 8:13 PMJan 8, 2016 at 11:53 PM

Mike Zhe mzhe@seacoastonline.com @MikeZhe603

Bill Bowes, who won more football games than any coach in Yankee Conference/Atlantic 10 history during a 27-year stint at the University of New Hampshire, will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, the National Football Foundation announced Friday.

As part of a 16-member Class of 2016 that also includes NFL standouts Randall Cunningham (UNLV) and Rod Woodson (Purdue), Bowes will be formally inducted at the 59th annual NFF Awards Dinner on Dec. 6 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City.

He could not immediately be reached for comment Friday evening.

Inductees will also be honored at the National Hall of Fame Salute at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on Dec. 31. Their accomplishments will be immortalized at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.

“He was an outstanding coach and teacher who influenced his players day in and day out, on the field and off,” said UNH coach Sean McDonnell, who played for Bowes in the 1970s and succeeded prior to the 1999 season. “The lessons he taught keep teaching us throughout our relationships and careers.”

In addition to the wins (a career record of 175-106-5), the Yankee Conference titles (four) and the NCAA playoff appearances (four), Bowes also developed a coaching tree that counts as its members McDonnell, former Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly, longtime Brown coach Phil Estes, UMass coach Mark Whipple, and former Holy Cross and NFL Europe coach Peter Vaas.

“His teams were always known for their toughness and resiliency, but also for their great character and integrity,” said McDonnell. “It was a blue-collar football program where the name New Hampshire really stood for excellence and competitiveness.”

Bowes is the first member of the UNH program selected for the Hall. The only other coach being inducted is Frank Girardi, the longtime former coach at Division III Lycoming (Pa.).

Inductees were selected from the national ballot of 76 players and five coaches from the Football Bowl Subdivision, and 92 players and 27 coaches from the divisional ranks.

Bowes coached the UNH football team for 27 seasons, retiring after the 1998 season as the all-time winningest coach in Yankee Conference/Atlantic 10 history. In his final season on the sidelines, All-America running back Jerry Azumah rushed for 2,195 yards and 22 touchdowns en route to winning the Walter Payton Award.

Azumah, who went on to play seven seasons at cornerback with the Chicago Bears, headlined a group of 12 All-America selections, six All-Atlantic 10 first-team selections and 69 Yankee Conference first-team representatives in the Bowes era. Azumah was one of Bowes’ 22 players to play in the NFL.

A Pennsylvania native, Bowes lettered for three seasons at Penn State, captaining the team as a senior in 1964. He joined the UNH coaching staff as an offensive line coach in 1966 before becoming the youngest head coach in school history in 1972.

In 1999, coach Sean McDonnell initiated the Bill Bowes Coaches Award, an annual honor presented to a senior on the team. The Wildcats have qualified for the NCAA playoffs 12 seasons in a row, the longest streak in the country, and reached the semifinals in 2013 and ’14.

“Coach Bowes set in motion a great culture of gridiron accomplishment that has lived on for many years and is further evidenced by our current run of football success at the FCS level,” UNH athletic director Marty Scarano said.

“We are extremely proud to announce the 2016 College Football Hall of Fame class,” said former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, NFF chairman and a 1989 College Football Hall of Famer, in a statement. “Each of these men has established himself among the absolute best to have ever played or coached the game, and we look forward to immortalizing their incredible accomplishments.”

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